7 Zizians Face Criminal Charges in 3 States After Border Agent's Killing

The violent deaths linked to the group known as Zizians stopped a year ago, but the legal fallout continues.

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

A year after a U.S. border agent was killed and three members of the group known as Zizians were arrested on trespassing and gun charges in Maryland, seven of the group's members are now jailed in three states, all awaiting trial. The Zizians, a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, have been tied to several violent incidents across the country, including the death of one of their own, the killing of a landlord, the shooting deaths of a member's parents, and a highway shootout that left the border agent and another Zizian dead.

Why it matters

The Zizians case highlights the ongoing legal fallout from a series of violent incidents linked to the group, which authorities say holds radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity, and artificial intelligence. The prosecutions have been slow-moving, with trial delays and little action in other related cases, raising questions about the challenges of building cases against a dispersed group with complex ties to multiple crimes across multiple jurisdictions.

The details

Police in Maryland quickly connected Jack 'Ziz' LaSota, Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank to homicide investigations in California, Pennsylvania and Vermont after a landowner found them living in box trucks at the end of a snow covered dirt road last February. The three are charged in Maryland with possession of LSD, gun violations, trespassing and hindering a police officer. Two other Zizians, Suri Dao and Alexander Leatham, are charged in a 2022 attack on a landlord in California that left another member dead, while another member, Maximilian Snyder, is charged with killing that landlord three years later. Zajko is also accused of supplying the guns used in a fatal shootout in Vermont in 2025 that left a border agent and another Zizian dead.

  • On February 16, 2025, LaSota, Zajko and Blank were arrested in Maryland.
  • In January 2025, a fatal shootout in Vermont left a border agent and another Zizian dead.
  • In December 2022, Zajko's parents, Richard and Rita Zajko, were shot and killed in Pennsylvania.
  • In 2022, Suri Dao and Alexander Leatham were charged in a California attack that left another Zizian member dead.
  • In 2019, authorities allege LaSota faked her own death to evade charges after a protest in California.

The players

Jack 'Ziz' LaSota

The apparent leader of the Zizians group, LaSota has a May trial date in Baltimore federal court on a charge of being an armed fugitive, which she has asked to have dismissed.

Michelle Zajko

A Zizian member who is charged in Maryland with possession of LSD, gun violations, trespassing and resisting arrest. She is also accused of supplying the guns used in a fatal shootout in Vermont and is a person of interest in the deaths of her adoptive parents in Pennsylvania.

Daniel Blank

A Zizian member charged in Maryland with possession of LSD and gun violations. His parents are pressing for his release on bail, arguing he should not be detained because of the company he was arrested with.

Suri Dao

A Zizian member charged in a 2022 attack on a landlord in California that left another Zizian member dead. Dao's attorney says he is not guilty and proceedings are suspended for competency hearings.

Maximilian Snyder

A Zizian member charged with killing the landlord, Curtis Lind, in California three years after the 2022 attack that left another Zizian member dead.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“In the interest of Hope, Justice and Truth, for the good of all people, and for the establishment of a true peace, the defense moves to dismiss this case.”

— Michelle Zajko (Court filing)

“Renee Good is probably dead because the regime has so far been able to get away with murdering Ms. Bauckholt & framing Youngblut.”

— Michelle Zajko (Court filing)

“It is an act of obscene cruelty, despotism & the mark of a tyrannical regime to use a bad faith investigation & the threat of phony charges to conceal exculpatory evidence, threaten witnesses into silence, or threaten to put an innocent person to death, all to protect a murderous border patrol human.”

— Michelle Zajko (Court filing)

What’s next

The judge in the Vermont case has suspended deadlines for pretrial motions, citing the complexity of the capital case and noting that the exchange of evidence 'will include material related to investigations into other individuals in multiple jurisdictions.'

The takeaway

The Zizians case highlights the challenges law enforcement faces in building cases against a dispersed group with ties to multiple violent incidents across state lines, as well as the legal complexities involved in prosecuting such a far-reaching and interconnected set of crimes.